Global trends in female wealth and entrepreneurship

In December we published a report on female wealth creation, alongside our partners Wealthmonitor and Clearview Financial Media. To me, one of the most encouraging and interesting parts of the report was the section on trends in wealth creation events. The following excerpt, originally written by Harry Keir Hughes, highlights the role of European entrepreneurialism in the bigger picture of increasing female control of private wealth.

“The story of women’s wealth in Europe has been very encouraging in the last few years. In 2015, the contribution of women’s wealth to the overall total was 14.3%, up 2.1% on the year before. Though this might seem a small amount given the dominance of men’s wealth in the region, it is part of a rising trend and should not be glossed over.

“Indeed, the amount of female wealth created steadily increased throughout the years between 2012 and 2016. In 2012 women contributed just under £3.5bn. This number increased considerably between 2014 and 2015, jumping 34% from £4.1bn to £5.6bn, with another jump of 10.8% from 2015 to 2016, to reach a peak of £6.2bn of wealth created.

“Drilling down further, we see that it is the Western European market that is faring best in terms of female wealth creation. Every year, apart from 2012/2013, the amount of female wealth created in the region has increased, hitting a high of just under $5bn in 2016. In other European regions the story is similar, though there is more fluctuation than in Western Europe.

“It is also telling to break down the region further, looking at the countries that females in Europe are making most of their wealth in.

“By a long margin, the UK and Germany are the top countries in Europe for female wealth creation, with their figures steadily increasing over the years in both countries. Though 2014 was a relatively poor year for the UK, between 2014 and 2015 female wealth increased by a huge 73% to take the total to just over £2.3bn. Similarly, the period between 2013 and 2014 was massively productive for German female wealth, it growing 148% from just under £600m to £1.5bn.

“Interestingly, Italy is another region that has seen a significant climb in female wealth recently. Starting at £117.4m in 2012, the country saw over £550m of wealth created by women over the four years, bringing their total to £679.4m in 2016.”

This blog is an excerpt from Section 2 of the report Winning Women: Key Insights for Wealth Firms Targeting Today’s Dynamic Female Clients, a 36-page study of the role women play in wealth generation globally and how firms need to adapt to support them. For further detail on sectoral trends, generational trends, and trends in female wealth creation outside of Europe, download the full report using the link below.

Rachael Hughes - Group Business Development Manager

Rachael is responsible for driving business development activity across all business areas for our Isle of Man and Malta offices, bringing years of experience gained in other business development roles with two other Isle of Man based corporate services providers.

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